About

Comments of a general nature about this project are welcome!
Emails and comments regarding specific questions about specific students or classroom issues will not be responded to and will be deleted.
Questions, comments or concerns regarding your child should be addressed following standard School Board protocol.

When starting this project, there were – and continue to be
– a number of logistical issues to deal with. What device were we going to use?
Was there going to be a stable internet connection available? Where do we store
the devices? How do we best share them?

The biggest issue came in changing our thinking about using
devices at all at school. There are few
things in recent years more taboo than getting caught with a cell phone. I have
read some board’s policies on the matter where even volunteers in a school must
turn off their phones the minute they enter the building.

Burying one’s head in the sand on the issue, however, is not
the way to deal with this. Reality is that the use of smartphones and personal
devices has exploded – it has changed the way society functions at a
fundamental level. As educators we not only have a responsibility to our
students to teach them how to use a device responsibly, but we would be foolish
to ignore the vast amount of information available to us.

That doesn't take away from the sound reasons behind the
original ban on cell phones and personal devices – and addressing those
provides our first challenge.

It is vital that an environment of trust be
established. It my classroom, texting,
social media and telephone calls are still not allowed – including at
recess. I have appealed to parents to
avoid sending texts to their children during the school day in order to foster
this feeling of trust. By far the majority of text messaging among my students has been done between parent and child - I forgot my gym clothes, I have a headache, I want tacos for dinner. My students have to trust me too - they have to know that if they need to reach their parent, I'll take them to the phone at recess. If they tell me they aren't well I will respect that and let them go to the office to call home. If they want tacos for dinner - well, that's a time they learn they have to communicate before or school or wait.

We have a list of
rules up that students are expected to follow.
And they know the consequences if they don’t – they don’t want to lose
access to the Chromebooks and the other devices they bring in. At first, daily review is vital, but it's important to point out reminders once in awhile too. They must also sign a contract, specifying when personal devices will be used and under what circumstances. The bottom line: it's always under my direction and supervision.

Which is not to say it has been perfect. A colleague walked in my room to discover one
seemingly hard-working and studious pair playing a rousing game of Angry Birds
rather than working on the science assignment.
Careful monitoring is also an important part. And realistically – who among us hasn't snuck
a glance at a text message received during an endless staff meeting? Or checked the score of a game? Teaching students to deal with distractions –
and get back on task is valuable indeed.

I was recently part of an online discussion where a mother
of a student in Grade Five wanted to know if other parents had sent personal
devices to school with their children.In the front page of the child’s agenda was the school board’s brand new
“Bring Your Own Device Policy”.It looks
good, and it addresses many important points and concerns. You can find the policy here: Peel Board of Education BYOD Policy

Certainly, students need to learn how to use
technology.Many of them already are at
home and it only makes sense to tap into the vast network of knowledge and
programs available out there.Expecting
students to learn like they did fifty, twenty or even five years ago is
unrealistic.Gone are the days when
students needed to trek down to their local public library to find information
in dusty old text books. Now a visit to
the library means access to the most up to date information available. Journal
articles that used to take weeks to find their way to a student are now
available instantly. And students want to be connected online.You only need to watch a group of teenagers
walking down the street, engaged in conversation both with one another and with
whomever or whatever is on their device.

But the information is vast and is often potentially
misleading.I recall looking for
information on the Holocaust to show to a class and I was nearly a third of the
way through the video before I realized it was subtly trying to persuade me
that the Holocaust never occurred.Without my own knowledge and experience on the subject there is no way I
would have ever suspected the site was anti-Semitic, and if I had been a
student I would easily have accepted the information as the truth.

Stories about bullying and on-line harassment are becoming
increasingly common, and tragic stories about suicides stemming from these
incidents leave parents and educators concerned and confused.How do we protect our children if there is
never a break from their devices, even at school?

For these reasons, it is vital that educators become more
tech savvy and teach their students how to use technology responsibly and
ethically. That is where this project comes in. We want to demonstrate that
students are able to use their devices to improve student learning in a
collaborate setting.We want to become
more comfortable with technology ourselves.And finally, we want to share our experiences with our colleagues, so
that they too may become comfortable and provide the best opportunities for
their students to become discerning learners in a 21st century environment.

As the weeks go by, we will share our experiences here.Next time, I will write about the ground
rules – building an environment of trust with my students so they are clear
about the expectations surrounding their devices.